Wilmington residents cope with power outages

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – Duke Energy Progress says 44 percent of New Hanover County does not have power.

Wednesday morning there were a number of isolated power outages, but by 3:00pm a good portion of New Hanover County was in the dark.

“It’s kind of devastating for us because it’s not only electric lights, but the heat and the water,” Paul Sommers of Wilmington said.

Paul Sommers and his family live off of Friendly Road in Wilmington. Sommer says they spent much of the day Wednesday without power.

“You never get used to ice,” Sommers said. “We are used to snow, but ice is a problem wherever you go.”

Not too far from Sommers’s home we found his neighbor Van Jackson.

Jackson is no stranger to storms. In fact he is one of the only homes in the neighborhood that had power.

“In 1984 Hurricane during Hurricane Diane we lost a 27-foot boat,” said Jackson. “We lost power for 7 days. People didn’t have generator then.”

According to a representative with Duke Energy Progress, they are going to try and restore power in the most impacted areas first.

He says that restoring power after an ice storm can be challenging.

Van Jackson says he is thankful for the men and women who are helping to restore power here in the Port City.

“I appreciate Progress Energy for doing the trimming they did earlier last year,” said Sommers. “If we didn’t have that, everybody would have lost power.”

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